


New School, Same Place

by Anastasian_Dreamer



Series: Miraculous Ladybug: PG13 [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bee Chloé Bourgeois, I'm not good at being mean, Kinda nice Chloé, Male OC are unnamed, Mentioned Alya Césaire and Nino Lahiffe, Multi, Not good with fighting either, Redeemed Chloe Bourgeois, This is me fixing things, bear with me, lots of changes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-11-07 03:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17953010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anastasian_Dreamer/pseuds/Anastasian_Dreamer
Summary: Two weeks after Sweet Marionette, things have yet to settle down. New changes have Akumas on the rise and things are getting tough for our favorite heroes. Marinette, Adrien, and Chloe worry that maybe the road to hell really is paved with good intentions. Will they get the help they need? Or will it all fall apart?





	1. The Time Inbetween

**Author's Note:**

> Read Fic Sweet Marionette first. I promise things will make sense soon. Let me know if there are any parts that you want to write for me! This includes parts of Sweet Marionette. Enjoy!

 

 

  * Nadja and Alya chased Sweet Marionette, but only Nadja saw what happened. 
  * Nadja tells Alya to leave it alone and focus on helping her friend. 
  * Alya reevaluates her reporting habits and what lead up to Marinette's Akumatization
  * Nadja 'loses' the 'useless' footage and waits tells Chloe later that she'll do what she can to keep others of her friend tails. 
  * Sweet Marionette had nearly reached beyond Paris city bounds
  * A high ranking government official sees the report and public uproar about Sweet Marionette and demands that something be done
  * A test is created to judge who is at risk of Akumatization 
  * The scoring starts at 0 and goes up. 
  * The lower the score the better



 

The Test: 

Marinette glanced around the classroom, noticing the two other adults besides the teacher walking around the room.

_They really aren’t sparing any expense for this._ She looked at her partially filled test, hesitating at the question she read. _I guess I understand though. It is an important test._

 

**Outside of work/school, about how much time do you spend with friends and/or family in one week?**

  * **Less than 2 hours**
  * **About 3-6 hours**
  * **About 6-9 hours**
  * **More than 9 hours**



 

Marinette circled B and C, noting to the side that she only got less time if popular holidays were close. She normally helped with the Bakery then. She privatly noted that it wasn’t that hard to keep up with Ladybug, the bakery, school, and her dream but still have time to relax. It just seemed like it.

Moving on she answered a few more questions before she came across two that stuck to her.

 

**Chose the words that best describe your friends.**

**Chose the words that best describe your family.**

 

Both questions had a list of words under them that ranged from overly positive to very negative, but the only ones that applied to her family and friends were the neutral and positive ones. Her friends were getting better with her after Sweet Marionette. Her family was amazing as always. Chloe and Adrien were closer to her than ever, going so far as to carpool home. She was ok in that regard.

She finished the rest of the test, stopping at the last two questions.

 

**Have you been Akumatized in the past? Yes, No. If yes, what was your Akuma name and goal?**

**Are there any others that you are concerned might be Akumatized?**

 

There were spaces to write under both questions, but Marinette wasn’t sure what to write about Sweet Marionette. She did, however, write Chloe, Adrien, and Alya’s names by the last one. Chloe was always at risk, what with her mother’s relationship with her. Adrien, well, she felt it was only a matter of time before his father crossed a line. Alya still hadn’t let go of her guilt concerning Lila and Sweet Marionette.

Hm, but what to write about her akumatization. There were so many factors to it, not just name and goal. Sweet Marionette was more than just one bad day, one negative emotion. Marinette hadn’t gotten enough sleep that night after a long and hard patrol, then her parents hadn’t been able to do their normal morning routine after an all nighter for a catering, then everyone had ignored her during school, then there was Lila and-

A hand brushed her head, making her look up to see Adrien in the seat in front of her. He was turned around, a hand hovering over her. He took a silent, deep breath, making her mimic him. He smiled softly, a question in his eyes. She smiled back and nodded.

“M. Agreste, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng.” One of the officials stopped next to them.

“I was just making sure she was alright sir.” Adrien said, removing his hand and moving to sit right.

The official looked at her sheet, seeing the only question left blank was the one about previous Akumatizations. He nodded. “Alright. Take your time.” He walked off, leaving Adrien half turned in his seat.

She pointed to the blank question, tilting her head at the official. Adrien looked at the sheet, shrugging before nodding to her and Chloe.

Marinette took another breath before writing.

 

**Have you been Akumatized in the past?** **|Yes|** **No. If yes, what was your Akuma name and goal?**

**My Akuma, taking place two weeks and three days ago, was named Sweet Marionette. She appeared after a compilation of several complicated factors. One of these factors is not my secret alone to share. If you still wish to have the entire story, I will need a private meeting with an official, Chloe Bourgeois, and Adrien Agreste.**

 

She looked at Adrien, who nodded after looking at what she wrote. She got up and turned her test in.

“A private meeting, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng?” The other official said.

“Yes, sir.” She watched as her test was put aside from the others.

“Very well. You and M. Agreste may go.” The two of them left to wait for Chloe outside.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadja and Alya's Akuma-Chasing is up for you guys to write. Just let me know that you're going to.


	2. The Results

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on, the headcanon-style writing is going to happen less. I'll let you know at the end what is up for grabs.

 

  * The results of the testing shows that Lycee has the most of the top 30 high scores 
  * A fair amount come from Mlle. Bustier's class 
  * The school, her class specifically, get investigated 
  * Chloe, Marinette, and Adrien get their homes investigated 



 

 

Strike Three

“Mlle. Caline Bustier…” the official looked down his nose at the teacher who simply looked awkward as she stood there, wondering what was going on. “You have never tried to stop any bullying in your classroom? At all?”

“I believe that by showing bullies positive role models they can change…” Caline said about to give her speech when the official shook his head.

“Over the emotions of the victim?”

“Victim is a strong word-”

“Victim is the only word for those who are affected by bullies Mlle. Bustier.” said the man. Behind him, M. Damocles was silent, looked at her with an expression that made her want to twitch. Why was he looking at her like that? She had only been doing what was right. “You’re fired.”

“...What?!” Caline asked, standing up, eyes wide. She opened her mouth, about to shout when the man continued, his voice firm.

“Multiple counts of the negligence of duties, multiple cases of allowing a bully free reign, potential child endangerment because you did not contain a bully when there is a mad man creating supervillains out of those who are angry or sad.” said the official, glaring at her.

“But Chloe and Lila have a right-”

“Their right ends when the feelings and emotions of another child begin. You are fired Mlle. Bustier. What you are doing is letting her believe she is always in the right and that no matter what she can just cry her way out of something. ” M. Damocles said.

“We have taken into account that Chloe Bourgeois has gotten better. Lila Rossi, on the other hand, has only gotten worse.” The official added.

Damocles stood. “You have to this afternoon to clear out your desk.”

Caline couldn’t breathe, feeling her heart pounding. What was… what just happened?

Marinette couldn’t believe it. Her teacher had just been fired! Not that she was supposed to know that. She wasn’t even meant to be near the classroom. It was the end of the school day, but she had dropped her sewing kit outside the classroom door.

She dashed Into the next classroom and out the window when she heard footsteps. With a sigh of relief, she turned around.

“Ah!” Chloe and Adrien were staring at her.

“Uh, care to explain why you were climbing out the window?” Chloe asked.

She walked up to them with a sigh. “Mlle. Bustier was just fired.”

“What?!” Her fellow heroes cried.

“Shh!” Marinette said. “They said that she wasn’t doing well enough with the bullies in the class.”

All three of them, paused. “We should talk to her.”

They ran off, hoping to catch her before she left. Spotting her in her car, Adrien called out. “Mlle. Bustier! Wait!”

The woman paused, opening her window. “H-hey, you three.” It looked like she had been crying.

“I’m sorry, M. Bustier. I overheard what happened.” Marinette confessed.

“To be fair, I will be the first to admit that teenagers can be a nightmare.” Chloe said.

“Oh. It’s fine.” She brushed off. “I’ve probably had it coming.”

“Maybe try a younger group of kids?” Adrien suggested.

Bustier thought for a moment. “That’s a good idea. I’ll probably need to take a couple of classes myself before i’m allowed to teach again, but that is a choice.”

With a short thank you and gentle goodbyes, Mlle. Bustier was gone.

“Hopefully, that will prevent her from being Akumatized.”

 

New Teacher

The class, save for a familiar three, were confused when a woman that wasn't Caline Bustier walked in the following Monday. 

Her hair was long and brown, gentle waves pulled back into a high ponytail. She wore a simple white blouse with black pants and white heels. With olive skin and red lips, the way she held herself told the class that she was confident and not to be trifled with. 

“Good morning class,” said the woman at the front. Everyone traded confused looks at one another.

“Morning…” the class said slowly before Lila spoke up.

“Where’s Mlle. Bustier?”

“She was fired for her actions in not stopping any of the bullying occurring in this class and for neglect of her duties regarding a few of you.” said the woman. “I am Mlle. Black. I am from England but have lived in France for most of my life. A little bit about me is I am half-French and have studied in America. I was chosen to take this class for my no bullying policy. I lost my older brother to suicide due to a bully. I have no tolerance for them as such, and I will not allow it.” She was firm, crossing her arms and staring at the class. “Now, I will let you remain in your seats despite my wish to change them as you all seem very capable of getting good marks. But I do want to get to know you…”

 

  * After Mlle. Black gives them a report to do, Lila uses Sabrina to try and pass
  * Sabrina gets her grade after confessing on a note that Lila had her write one for her 
  * Lila is held back after class to talk about why she got a 0



 

 

The Failing Grade

“Mlle. Black, I don’t understand. I did the research.” Lila said with a convincing frown. She held up her homework assignment. “How did I get a zero?”

“You had Sabrina write the paper,” said Mlle. Black. “That is still plagiarism. Automatic zero.”

“But Mlle. Black-”

“The handwriting is the same, the entire paper is basically the same. I’m not stupid. I will not put up with this.”

“Mlle Black, I didn’t have-”

Mlle. Black raised an eyebrow. “I’m stopping you right there. You might be able to fool the majority of the class, Mlle. Rossi, but I am not Mlle. Bustier. I am not inclined to automatically believe the best in people. Your lies will not be tolerated any longer.”

Adrien, standing outside the cracked window, snuck away. This would be trouble. Lila was being shut down hard like she needed, but it was making her more volatile. It was only a matter of time before Hawkmoth got a hold of her again, and this time he might not let her go.

He needed to warn the others.

Maybe he should have the Heroes of Paris talk to Mlle. Black, too. 

 


	3. Investigation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got LONG.

 

 

 

 

 

  * Chloe’s investigation leads to her parents taking a sort of Parenting 101 type class
  * Chloe also gets therapy once a week



 

Marinette’s Investigation

Marinette was nervous. She was sitting in a classroom with one of the testing officials from last week, another one going to get Adrien and Chloe from outside. There was also another official in the corner, a young woman typing on a laptop. Marinette assumed that she was their monitor.

Her home life had been investigated yesterday and found innocent of ‘dangerous amounts of stress’ as they put it. Her friends had been investigated earlier that day and been declared on a proper path to mending after Sweet Marionette.

“Alright, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng.” the official said. “My name is Michael. I understand that you requested a specific set up for this meeting about Sweet Marionette. Is there anything you would like to say before your friends show up?”

“Yes, sir.” Marinette nodded. “If they decide that we shouldn’t tell you something, can you guys respect that? There’s a lot more to this than just a single wish.”

“I can’t promise anything, but we will take that into account.” Michael said.

“That’s not an answer, sir.” Marinette gave him a flat look.

It was then that the other official returned with Adrien and Chloe. When the official left, Adrien pulled the blinds closed. The officials looked at each other, suspicious.

“The short of it is that Sweet Marionette started after a long night, a bad morning, and Lila Rossi turning the class on me.” Marinette began, taking Adrien’s offered hand as he and Chloe sat on either side of her. “It’s the long story that we wanted to speak to the government about.”

“What is this long story, if I may ask?” Michael asked, leaning forward with professional concern.

Marinette looked at Chloe. “As you know, I am one of the Heroes of Paris, Queen Bee. My colleagues , Ladybug and Chat Noir wasted to know how far you could be trusted.”

Adrien spoke next. “Please understand that there is a lot we can’t tell you, but if you do decide to help us, we will explain as much as we can.”

Michael’s eyes widened at the implications. “Hold on. We?”

“Yes. That’s why I had a long night.” Marinette took a breath. “Tikki, Spots on.”

“Plagg, Claws out.”

“Pollen, Buzz on.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir were suddenly sitting in front of the two shocked government officials. It took a good minute before anyone could move. The one who did, was the girl with the laptop, taking out her phone to make a call to a superior that was still at the main government building.

“Mlle. Laurent. It’s Carols. We have a development. You’re going to want to get down here for one of tomorrow's student meetings.” the girl, Carols apparently, scanned the three heroes. “You might want to bring some non disclosure agreements as well.”

 

  * The Kwami’s hadn’t liked the idea to ask the government for help at first, but accepted that they might not have a choice at this point.
  * The meeting with Mlle. Laurent couldn’t be scheduled for another three days



 

Adrien’s Investigation 

Adrien was... so tired. Not physically, he was mentally drained. That interview about his friends was draining. Michael and Carols had streamlined his interviews and investigation in light of Marinette’s, which had only happened yesterday. They questioned him thoroughly, about his friends, his home life, … his late mother. He was practically leaning on Marinette as the two adults escorted them out of the school.

Chloe offered to take them home, but Adrien’s driver was expecting them. He had to get some sleep for a shoot tomorrow. At least, that was the plan. It changed when he spotted Gorilla walking towards them with a thick binder under one arm. He was coming from the back entrance.

“Gorilla? What are you doing here? Isn’t it your day off?” Marinette asked.

Gorilla grunted with a nod before handing the binder to Michael. There was a pause before Michael opened it. The kids noticed Michael’s eyes widen before he glanced at gorilla and flipped through the many pages.

“This makes my job much easier.” Michael looked at Adrien. “Were you aware that Richard Valère was employed directly by your mother?”

“Uh, no. I wasn’t even told his name.” Adrien blinked. “Father just told me that he was to be my security guard, that he didn’t speak, and left it at that.”

“Well, he was. As such, he isn’t actually connected to your father. He’s paid by your mother’s estate, which was will to your trust fund.” Michael pulled a paper out of the binder and gave it to Adrien. “It says so here, in your mother’s will.”

Adrien took the paper, not really understanding what was written. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know what all of it says, but it looks like anything she shared with your father was left to him. There’s a lot she didn’t share with him though. All of that was left to you.” Chloe said, scanning the sheet. “I think.”

Adrien and Marinette gave her a look. “How do you know that?” Marinette asked.

“I want to study business.” Chloe said before looking at Gorilla. “Also, is your name? Richard Valère?”

Gorilla nodded before pointing at the binder and at Adrien, making the ‘look’ motion between them. Grunts accented the motions. Michael handed the binder to Adrien for the boy and his friends to look over, walking with them to the back entrance.

 

The whole thing was filled with so many words and pictures and numbers that it took a minute for them to make sense of any of it. When they did, however, anger and fear and hope swirled between them. It was Adrien’s schedule, starting from just two weeks after Emilie Agreste’s disappearance, three days before her presumed death. Every moment that Adrien spent awake was documented, noting who was and wasn’t present and how they acted around Adrien. Richard Valère had been making a case for neglect and emotional abuse on Adrien’s behalf since it became apparent that something was amiss with Gabriel.

Chloe was forced to take the binder from Adrien when his hands started shaking, returning it to Michael while Marinette guided the cat-themed hero into a waiting limo. She then took Adrien’s phone and shot a convincing text to the replacement driver to send them to the mansion without them. Marinette, meanwhile, just held her now sobbing crush close as the limo made its way to Chloe’s.

A silent promise went unheard as two government officials began a long night of confirmations and investigating.

 

The girls could understand why Adrien was overwhelmed. Not only was he faced with the truth of how his father, his only family, was acting, but he had just been handed the name of one man that he didn’t think had cared. Only, he did care. Adrien finally had someone to really look up to, that had been there  since day one. Since before even that! There was someone that was willing to be there when his friends couldn’t be.

His mother had made sure of it.

Adrien couldn’t help but wonder if his mother had known what Gabriel would become if something had happened to her. Had she seen how cold he could be? Did she put all this in place on purpose? Did she give Gorilla- no, Richard Valère- instructions on what to do to protect her only child from a cold home? He didn’t know, but it was a nice thought.

 

When the limo pulled up to Chloe’s home, Gorilla picked Adrien up gently from the back seat and followed Chloe to a spare room. Chloe’s parents allowed the three to stay after hearing what had happened, making the appropriate calls to Nathalie and The Dupain-Chengs. They had, however, lied to Nathalie, telling her that Adrien had stopped by to grab a textbook he had forgotten and fallen asleep on their sofa.

Eventually the girls were left alone with a sleeping Adrien, having elected to watch over him as he slept. When they were, the Kwami's floated out.

“Poor kitten.” Plagg said, for once, letting his age show.

“He never considered any of this. Did he?” Marinette sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed to pet Adrien’s hair.

Chloe sighed as she sat on Adrien’s other side. “No. He didn’t. I tried to tell him before he convinced his father to let him come to school that their relationship wasn’t healthy, but...” She sighed again, leading Pollen to nuzzle her cheek.

Tikki hovered by Marinette, speaking up to finish the thought. “He had already convinced himself that Gabriel Agreste was just a busy man, and facing the truth hurts.”

“My poor Chaton. He’s so strong.” Marinette said. “He’s gone through so much for so long and he still hasn’t been Akumatized.”

There was a lull, a bit of quiet that let the girls and Kwamis consider recent events.

“What do you think the government will do?” Pollen worried. “As far as I’m aware, we’ve never allowed Miraculous users to gain positions of power, or be in regular contact with them.”

Tikki shuttered. “The last time was centuries ago and that ended in disaster. Poor Gida still hasn’t recovered.”

“Gida?” Chloe asked.

“Gida is the Goat Miraculous and the Kwami of Peace, my queen. Master Fu keeps her and a few others in a separate box.” Pollen explained. “She hasn’t been well since her last holder was seriously harmed while transformed. Tikki was active at the time, but Plagg wasn't.”

“Tikki, if all of the Miraculous were active, who would be the leader?” Marinette asked softly.

“Such a thing would be very ill advised, but…” Tikki started.

“Me and Tikki would be in charge of everyone.” Plagg finished.

“So I was right in thinking that Adrien and I have the final say, even though Master Fu is the Guardian.” Marinette said. “That’s what I was thinking when I told those officials about us.”

At Tikki’s nod, Marinette lifted her head. Her eyes were firm, sure of whatever decision she had made. “We need to talk to Master Fu about going on the offensive as soon as everything has settled.”

“Woah! Where is this coming from?” Chloe asked, startled at the suddenness of the choice.

Marinette stood and started pacing. “When you became Queen Bee, there was a point where you were both a Miraculous holder and an Akuma. That means that each Miraculous can be corrupted. When I became Sweet Marionette, there was a moment where I almost _didn’t_ give up my bag and earrings.”

“Meaning that Tikki almost got corrupted…” Plagg shuttered at the thought. “The Goddess of Creation almost went evil.”

“Exactly. If I hadn’t fought Hawkmoth off for that moment longer, we wouldn’t be here right now.” Marinette stopped pacing to look at her sleeping partner. “If that happens to Adrien, and he doesn’t give up his ring fast enough, then Plagg will be corrupted.”

“Why do I feel like that’s more terrifying than just the God of Destruction going evil.” Chloe asked.

“Because, when Adrien is finally pushed too far, he’ll lose faith in everything.” Plagg said. “And Faithless Adrien plus Evil Plagg equals a Chat Noir that won’t care who gets caught in the crossfire, so long as the world that hurt him burns.”

“The same goes for me.” Marinette confessed. She laid down next to Adrien, covering her face with her arm.

“What do you mean?” Pollen asked.

“Sweet Marionette didn’t care about anyone or anything. She had given up on _everything_ .” Marinette explained. “She didn’t care if Hawkmoth got the Miraculouses. She only planned on giving them to Master Fu so she would have more time to get what she wanted, a timeless pocket dimension strung up at the top of the Eiffel Tower for us to stay in forever. She had even been considered _keeping them_ so our kwami’s could be with us. _She just didn’t care anymore._ ”

Chloe let out a soft ‘oh’ before laying with her comrades. There was several moments of silence before she sighed again. “Let’s just sleep before patrol tonight.”

Marinette waited for Chloe to fall asleep before she spoke to the three palm-sized gods. “We have to end this, before we really lose something. Or worse, someone.”

With six restless and tired hearts, the room went quiet with sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chloe's investigation and the talk with the Kwamis is up for grabs.


	4. A Day Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of cute to off set what I have planned.

That evening’s patrol was peaceful. Nothing was really happening outside of a normal Paris night. The three heroes joked and laughed and showed off. For a while they were just overly athletic kids. Had any civilian seen them, that person would worry about how old the heroes were. No one did see them, however, and so no one knew to ask. 

Do not mistake peaceful for uneventful, however. Partway through the night, they decided that they would spend the morning at Marinette’s, leaving a note with Gorilla and sending a message to the Dupain-Cheng home. 

When they got in, a little past sunrise having napped on the Eiffel Tower, Sabine was just opening Marinette’s balcony door. They paused just out of sight and detranformed, walking to the roof across from the balcony. It was only about three feet of upwards distance, easily jumped when the sliding rail was moved. 

“Care to explain why you’re sneaking in, rather than coming through the front?” Sabine asked. 

“That’s my fault Mme. Cheng.” Adrien said as Chloe jumped across, landing safely in Tom Dupain’s waiting arms. “I can’t go home until the investigation is done.” 

After catching their daughter and clearing a spot for Adrien to land on at his request, the two adults looked at each other. It was a sort of look that only parents understood, one that promised a tongue lashing. 

Before they could extract more about what was happening in that regard, however, Adrien jumped…

... and stumbled upon landing, momentum carrying him into the bedroom, into a large basket of yarn, and tumbling down the stairs into the living room. Chloe, having pulled out her phone to check her hair in the camera, was knocked over. The phone started recording, having had the button pushed in the fall. 

“Adrien!” Marinette yelled, running with her parents and Chloe down the stairs. 

“Oh, honey, are you ok?!” Sabine landed at the bottom of the stairs first, stepping aside and pausing at the sight of Adrien. 

“What happened?” Chloe, the last one down, took all of one second to take in the sight. She then pointed her phone to Adrien and broke the stunned silence with her own cackling. 

Adrien was on his back, laying on the floor tangled in yarn and strings. His limbs were trapped curled against him, getting trapped in his tumble down the stairs. 

“Uh. Help?” He said, tugging and pulling his arms and legs in an attempt to get free. 

Marinette and Sabine, trying to not giggle at the poor boy, knelt next to him. It took a while for them to untangle the boy, but they did. All the while, Tom and Chloe were laughing and teasing Adrien. Chloe’s comments didn’t stray to Chat, but the glint in her eye said that she clearly wanted to. Adrien took the grief in stride, red and pouty but no more. 

 

After Adrien was untangled, it was time to open the bakery. Voting to help out, Adrien helped Tom in the kitchen, loading the fresh food to the front as it was made. Chloe, after a quick crash course, took the register with the one employee that they had. Marinette took orders to waiting customers. 

During a little rush in the late morning, Chloe and Marinette told the two bakers about what Richard had revealed the previous day. When Marinette explained, in general terms, what Emilie had expected Gabriel to become, adding that Gabriel had actually gotten worse that the late mother had guessed, Sabine went silent. 

There was a good minute of Sabine looking irked, tapping at the register a bit harder than necessary, during which a customer took out his gopro to record the obviously spiraling temper. When Sabine did let loose, she didn’t stop working. 

Through all of her ranting, she kept taking orders and giving change and giving Chloe and Adrien pointers. She kept going for about two minutes before she lost it, blending French with what Adrien and Marinette recognized as Mandarin. While the rest of the audience watched confused, Adrien and Marinette stopped. 

Marinette hadn’t expected her mother to explode after telling the woman about what had been discovered about Adrien. She should have known, really. Sabine Cheng was passionate, her motherly instincts incredibly sharp. Marinette happy that her mom cared about her friends so much. She really needed to calm the ranting woman down now, though. Some of the threats were getting a bit extreme. 

Adrien was touched when he had processed what Mme Cheng was saying. He hadn’t expected anyone to really care about him, having learned to not expect it after his mother had vanished three years prior. Having his friend’s mother go on a rant about how his father was a terrible excuse for a man and he should be ashamed and how he was the father of such a wonderful boy was beyond her and… Adrien should feel at least a little affronted, he though. This was his father she was insulting, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel anything other than… loved. Even when Mme Cheng’s threats about what she ought to do to Gabriel got graphic, he felt loved. It really was an addicting feeling. 

 

Hours later, a video taken from a gopro in a little bakery was going viral. A preluding bit of text said, “There’s this little family run bakery I go to every week as a treat. Today I came in to hear the daughter telling her parents about the Agreste Investigation and why her friend Adrien would need to stay with them for a little while. (Link to an article about it in the description.) After the girl finished, this happened. (The woman is speaking Mandarin and French, so you might need to turn on the captions to understand her.)” 

The video started during the silence before Sabine’s rant, following the woman around the bakery as she stewed. The only warning the viewer got was when Sabine slammed a dirty towel on the counter. The captions then proceeded to translate every word of her tirade as it came, noting in brackets when the language she was speaking changed. 

Near the end of the video, A blond boy and a girl that looked like the woman walked up to her and started talking to her. It took a while for them to calm her down, but they did. When the video ended another bit of text said, “I stan one (1) Badass Bakery Mama! =D” 

The comment section was filled with various opinions. Some agreed with the creator, while others didn’t approve of them recording without permission. Some thought it wasn’t the women's business to criticize the parenting skills of a man as busy as Gabriel Agreste. For the most part, people agreed with Sabine and loved her for it. Adrien’s fans loved her especially, going so far as to call her Adrien’s ‘Bakery Mama’. 

 

  * The kids have a chat about how Polyamory would work between them while enjoying a massive sundae. 
  * Chat Noir, Queen Bee, and Ladybug flirt with each other after agreeing to try it out. 



 

That afternoon, after the kids had been sent out for the day, The heroes of Paris were spotted sharing a truly humongous ice cream sundae while sitting on the rafters of an open air pavilion. They were rather high up, so no one could quite hear them, but they seemed to be talking and laughing as kids would do. Honestly, it made people wonder how old the three heroes were, but the thought that they were any younger than 18 was brushed off. It was a shameful thought that the government had to rely on kids to defend them. 

Some people on Twitter commented that it was probably a team bonding thing until Queen Bee did something that got the internet raving. 

After feeding Chat a bit of sundae, she leaned in front of him and kissed Ladybug full on the lips. After a bit more chatting and laughing, it was a red-faced Ladybug that kissed Chat, who dramatically swooned into Queen Bee’s lap. The girls laughed and fed Chat a couple more bites of sundae before tossing the container. When the three leapt away, social media was already blowing up at the idea of the Heroes of Paris being Polyamorous with each other. 

 

Marinette, Chloe, and Adrien fell asleep together at Chloe’s, knowing that the next day would be filled with meetings and serious talks. They were glad, however, that Adrien had been given at least one day away from the Agreste name. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not so good at writing an emotion I'm not feeling. When I wrote the parts after Adrien's thoughts on Sabine's rant, I hit a couple of bad days so writing happiness came hard. I might go back and redo this chapter, but for now, pretty much the whole thing is up for Outside POVs.


	5. Meetings for the Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took entirely too long to get done, and I am so sorry for that.

The three heroes got up early that day, knowing that they might have skipped a step when it came to involving the government with Hawkmoth. They needed to talk to Master Fu.

When they got there, Master Fu was having tea. Marinette glanced at her friends before sitting across from Master Fu. “Good Morning, Master.”

“Good morning Marinette, Adrien, Chloe. It is good to see you.” Master Fu smiled at them. “I see you three have gotten more comfortable with each other. That is good.”

“Yes, Master. We do very well together.” Marinette.

Master Fu poured each of them a cup of tea, quiet while he did so. “Is everything alright? All three of you, I think, would not come together just to check in.”

“You’re right.” Marinette took a breath. “We spoke with our kwami’s and each other and decided that it’s time we got help dealing with Hawkmoth.”

Master Fu looked at Marinette, glancing at the others. “What sort of help?”

“After debating on the topic, we’ve gotten the government involved.” Adrien said. “Marinette and I made the final decision.”

Master Fu was quiet for a moment. “I can not say that I am happy with this.”

“We know, but we think that The Miraculouses and their Kwami’s need to adapt to the modern age.” Marinette said.

“The whole Temple thing was good enough before technology was everywhere, but we live in a world where you can do something in Sydney, Australia and be judged by someone in Ontario, Canada ten minutes later.” Chloe cut in. “Sorry not sorry, but a bunch of monks at the top of a mountain aren’t going to cut it any more.”

“Chloe.” Adrien reproached.

“Look me in the eye and tell me I’m wrong!” Chloe defended.

Marinette reached a hand behind her to quiet them. “Master Fu, you want me to take your position as Guardian after you. This is my first step. You have neither the right nor the power to tell me to follow after making that clear.”

“The last time people of power were trusted with a Miraculous, the wielder died in their suit.” Fu said.

“Tikki mentioned the Goat Kwami, Gida. What happened?” Adrien asked.

Fu sighed. “Marinette’s predecessor, A musketeer called La Coccinelle, was not active with her own Black Cat. She had a young painter named Chevreau send messages to wrongdoers by painting images on walls and windows.”

Chloe leaned forward. “Coccinelle’s targets were political weren’t they?”

Fu nodded. “They were. One nobleman of the time, not liking what they were doing to stop his greed, captured Coccinelle. Chevreau, in the process of freeing her, was shot and died while transformed. Gida, traumatized at what had happened, stayed with Coccinelle, who became colder after the young painter’s death. The Temple was forced to take the Miraculouses back before she died, despite it being common practice for a Kwami to stay with their wielder for life.”

“What does that have to do with government involvement? Those were noblemen, not government officials. Right?” Marinette asked.

“The one that killed Chevreau was a high ranking government official at the time.” Fu said. “This also wasn’t too long after Tikki lost Jeanne d’Arc.”

“Joan of Arc was a ladybug?” Adrien asked.

At Fu’s nod, Marinette thought for a moment. “I understand not trusting the government, but we don’t have a choice. If we work on our own, we run more of a risk of losing than if we do. I’m not saying that we should hand over the Miraculouses to them, or even tell them about the Kwamis at all. All we need is to trust them to have our backs when we need it, like evacuating civilians and getting places where we can transform safely.”

“I see.” Fu said. “When are you meeting with the government?”

“This afternoon.” Adrien said. “We’re going right to the Eiffel Tower after this. They want to meet on the observation deck, where they have a section blocked off.”

“I’ll join you. If they are to meet you, then I wish to be there as well.” Fu nodded as he stood. “We might as well be going now. It will feel good to be Jade Turtle again.”

The kids looked at him surprised, accepting his decision before following him to the roof. They each transformed before looking at the retired monk.

“Wyazz, Shell on.” When the light faded, all pretense of ‘kindly old man Fu’ was gone. This was the nearly 200 year old guardian.

 

His outfit consisted of a dark green tunic and pants, an equally dark green hood attached to it. Over that was an olive green robe, trimmed and tied closed with yellow-green rope-like ribbon. Looped on the belt was a dark green pair of nunchucks and, on his back was a disk that looked like a tortoise shell.

His look was very monk-like, different from the modern superhero look that Carapace had. The three young heroes thought that it suited their master.

 

Jade Turtle took the disk from his back and laid it flat in the air, letting it hover in place for a moment before hoping on. He motioned them onwards as they noted that they couldn’t quite make out the features of his face under the hood.

When they finally got to the tower, they saw that they were more on time than they thought they would be, only early by 30 minutes. As they approached, they saw the investigators that they had met with before and another woman, tall and pale with short black hair, that the kids assumed was Mlle. Laurent.

Ladybug, Chat, and Queen Bee landed on the blocked off bit of platform while Jade Turtle hovered above the railing.

“Michael, Carols. It’s good to see you two again.” Ladybug said.

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, Queen Bee, this is Mlle. Lilianne Laurent. She has been placed in charge of your cases.” Carols said. “Mlle. Laurent, the heroes of Paris.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, and please, call me Lily.” Lily said. “Who is your companion? I don’t remember them from our records.”

Chat spoke up. “This is our Master, Jade Turtle. He is the one that gave us our powers.”

“I will be blunt with you. I do not trust your government, not after what happened the last two times people of such power got involved with our matters. ” Jade Turtle flew over to the officials, hopping off of his shell and letting it take its place on his back. “However, my student’s have brought forth many good points on why I should allow you to become involved. I will allow them to place their faith in your ability to control your greed for power and fear of the unknown. I, on the other hand, will be watching closely.”

The officials paused for a moment, seemingly taken aback by the powerful and old aura rolling of of the old hero. Lily was the first to shake herself to the present. “I understand. I can’t promise that anyone else will behave, but I can promise as much for the three of us.”

Jade Turtle looked at them for a moment before turning away. As he placed his disk down and hopped onto it, he spoke with the young heroes. “I will let you three take care of this. I must check in with the others.” 

 Quietly, unknown to all of them, a familiar red-head hovered on the other side of the sectioning wall, abusing the fact that there was no way to soundproof a platform like this. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please see Series notes!


End file.
